Composite laminates for aircraft structures often have precise and complex final shape requirements. According to known methods, the most cost effective production method is to produce an uncured flat laminate that is then formed to the desired shape. However, except for simple forms with ruled surfaces, many other shapes may result in less than desirable characteristics, such as, for example, wrinkling during and after formation.
Wrinkling may often be mitigated by various approaches, each having drawbacks. For example, for the formation of certain non-ruled aircraft structures, such as joggled stringers, etc., attempts to overcome wrinkling have been attempted by altering the design of the joggle to a shallower ramp angle. However, such design alterations undesirably add to the weight of the object structure. Further, attempts at manual lamination have been tried for the fabrication of complex parts. However, the labor costs to effect the manual production can often be prohibitive. Further unsuccessful attempts to suppress wrinkles have included cutting fibers in specific areas. Such attempts help in some cases, but may reduce mechanical properties and thus require an undesirable weight increase. Once again, such efforts have not produced reliable results without offsetting shortcomings.